Taif emerges as a sanctuary for Arabian horse heritage    International Year of Camelids 2024 under Saudi Presidency concludes    Elm, One sign MoU to enhance strategic partnership and support local content in communications and marketing sector    Commerce Ministry recalls over 88,000 Anker portable chargers over fire risk    Trump says Israel has agreed on terms for 60-day ceasefire in Gaza    New evidence suggests Russian forces shot down Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243    Iran's president halts cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog, reports say    Inquiry finds British committed genocide on Indigenous Australians    BTS are back: K-pop band confirm new album and tour    Saudi FM receives message from Iranian counterpart    Cabinet reaffirms Saudi position of resolving conflicts through diplomatic means    Foreign Trade Authority leads Saudi negotiating team in second round of GCC-Japan FTA Talks    Inzaghi hails 'historic' Al Hilal win over Man City: We climbed a mountain with no oxygen    Milinković-Savić says Al Hilal proved critics wrong after historic win over Man City    Al Hilal stuns Man City and stirs the world: 'One of the greatest nights in Saudi club football'    AlUla becomes favorite global summer destination for photography enthusiasts    Michelin Guide launches in Saudi Arabia with phased rollout in 2025    Al Hilal stun Manchester City in seven-goal thriller to reach Club World Cup quarterfinals    'How fragile we are': Roskilde Festival tragedy remembered 25 years on    Historic Jeddah's visual identity re-imagined through global art installations at Al-Arbaeen Lagoon    Sholay: Bollywood epic roars back to big screen after 50 years with new ending    Ministry launches online booking for slaughterhouses on eve of Eid Al-Adha    Shah Rukh Khan makes Met Gala debut in Sabyasachi    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Al-Maliki and the Iranian Umbrella
Published in AL HAYAT on 19 - 10 - 2010

The head of the Iraqiya candidate list, Iyad Allawi, believes that he won a majority of seats in the Iraqi Parliament, enabling him to head the government in Baghdad. The same belief has seized Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri, who also believes that he won a majority of seats in Lebanon's legislature, and that this would give him the opportunity to govern happily in Beirut. However, the “invention” of the national unity government in Lebanon deprived Hariri of this opportunity. A precedent was created in the history of the world's governments: something called “opposition ministers.” Something similar was “invented” in the understanding among Iraqi parliamentary blocs following the polls, as a way of getting around how Iraqis voted, and the majority support received by Allawi. It became natural for this understanding to favor the interest of pro-Iranian Shiite blocs, and we see the repercussions of this today.
Thus, Nuri al-Maliki has visited Tehran, for the first time since Iraq's parliamentary elections in March, in a bid to crown this understanding. The visit is also meant to crown the understandings that have preceded it, such as that between the State of Law list, and the Revolutionary Guards in Iran, along with the Sadrists in Iraq, and who would be assumed to give al-Maliki the opportunity to return happily to the prime minister's post, despite the criticisms that have been made, and continue to be made, about his tenure in office.
Al-Maliki's visit to Tehran is no less important than the visit by Mahmud Ahmadinejad to Beirut. In both cases, the message to concerned parties was clear. They were informed who has the most powerful voice when it comes to influence and decision-making regarding the two most important issues in the region: Iraq and Lebanon. In both cases, we have come to learn, after experience, that the force holding sway is that of Iran, represented by those who carry out its recommendations on the ground. They do not assign any weight to the democratic process, or the interests of national accord. They are indeed “forces.” Since they are thus, considerations of force alone are what secure the opportunity for them to impose their interests on the ground. Is it reasonable to wait for a force that has no truck with democracy in its country to be determined to see democracy hold sway in other countries?
At the least, this is what Iyad Allawi has concluded following his recent efforts to convince countries concerned with Iraq, including Iran, that his bloc had the constitutional right to form a Cabinet. The conclusion reached by Allawi is that Iran should avoid intervening in Iraqi affairs, and that it should not support or impose one Iraqi party at the expense of others.
If Saad Hariri, the Lebanese prime minister, were in a position to speak freely about his experience in government in recent months, after the painful process of forming his government, his comments would not differ much from those of Allawi: Iran must exit the Lebanese political process and cease to provide support and armed force to one of the sides in Lebanon, at the expense of the others. The same might be said by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, when it comes to discussing his difficult relations with Hamas.
It is difficult to talk about the rising Iranian influence over these issues without mentioning the decline in the influence of other forces, which are those with an Arab identity and affiliation.
Experience teaches us that nature abhors a vacuum, and that disintegration in Lebanon, and the state's surrender to its fate should have been compensated for by the stronger side, which found the political arena inviting and took it over. The same thing can be said about Iraq. After the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime and the collapse of all cohesive forms of the state in Iraq, someone or something was bound to fill the vacuum. We now see al-Maliki returning from Tehran, to remind us of the identity of the party able to undertake such a task.
It might be asked: where are the Arabs? Why do they not take up this task, in two countries that lie at the heart of their aspirations and interests? It is a legitimate question, but the answering it is as depressing as the conditions of Arabs today.


Clic here to read the story from its source.